This invention relates generally to vortex-shedding flowmeters, and more particularly to a dual-output flowmeter of this type which includes a drag-actuated torsional sensor, whereby the meter is useful for both liquid and gas flow rate measurement, the sensor being associated with a pair of transducers to provide two independent output signals.
In a vortex-shedding flowmeter, the frequency of shedding is precisely related to the velocity of fluid passing through the flow tube containing the shedding body, but only as long as the separation point from which shedding takes place remains fixed and the feedback mechanism causing shedding to transfer from one side of the body to the other remains constant.
In its most elementary form, the shedding body is a simple cylinder mounted across the flow tube. The difficulty experienced with this type of shedding body is that the separation point (i.e., the location at which vortices leave the body) shifts with Reynolds numbers. As a consequence, the vortex trail tends to meander down the flow tube behind the shedding body. If the angle of this vortex trail changes, the feedback mechanism causing shedding to take place from alternate sides of the shedding body also undergoes change, thereby giving rise to deviations from the predicted frequency of the shedder. As a result, meter accuracy and meter repeatability are poor.
Vortex meters are commercially available having shedding bodies which are designed to overcome these drawbacks by optimizing the shedding body width and geometry in relation to the flow tube size. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,117 to Rodely discloses a bluff body flowmeter having a prescribed geometric configuration designed to minimize irregularities in the oscillating wake. These meters constitute an improvement over meters having cylindrical shedding bodies. However, under less-than-ideal operating conditions, the vortex wake or trail created by these non-cylindrical shedding bodies will still, on occasion, become intermittent or meander, to produce the same disadvantages encountered with cylindrical bodies.
The Burgess U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,185 discloses an improved form of vortex-type flowmeter wherein the signal derived from the fluid oscillation is relatively strong and stable to afford a favorable signal-to-noise ratio insuring accurate flow-rate information over a fairly broad range. In this meter, an obstacle assembly is mounted in the flow conduit, the assembly being constituted by a block positioned across the conduit with its longitudinal axis at right angles to the direction of fluid flow, a strip being mounted across the conduit behind the block and being spaced therefrom to define a gap which serves to trap Karman vortices and to strengthen and stabilize the vortex street. This street is sensed to produce a signal whose frequency is proportional to flow rate.
In another Burgess patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,120, dealing with a vortex-type flowmeter, there is disclosed an obstacle assembly constituted by a fixed front section contoured to cause flow separation of the incoming fluid stream whose flow rate is to be measured, and a rear non-streamlined section which is shaped to interfere with the vortex street in the wake of the front section and is cantilevered from the front section to define a gap. The rear section is slightly deflectable relative to the front section whereby it is excited into minute vibrations by the vortex street. These vibrations are sensed by a strain gauge to produce a signal proportional to flow rate.
The liquid vortex flowmeter Model 10 LV 1000, manufactured by the Fischer & Porter Company of Warminster, Pa., the assignee herein, operates in accordance with the principles set forth in Burgess U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,120. This liquid vortex flowmeter constitutes a commercially successful version of a vortex meter utilizing a two-section shedder to create a vortex street. It is an excellent flowmeter whose rate accuracy on low viscosity fluids, such as water, within a broad operating range is about 2%.
However, some flow rate measuring applications require a higher order of accuracy and still broader operating range. Also, in some applications the fluid being measured is subject to viscosity changes, turbulence and other disturbances which adversely affect the accuracy of the readings obtained with meters of the 10 LV 1000 type.
To provide a vortex-type flowmeter in which the frequency of vortex shedding is accurately related to fluid velocity regardless of turbulence, changes in fluid viscosity and other disturbing factors which tend to degrade this relationship, applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,355 (Herzl) discloses a flowmeter whose obstacle assembly is constituted by a fixed front section and a deflectable rear section cantilevered by beams from the front section, the rear section having a central opening therein to provide a fluid passage.
The front section of the Herzl patent flowmeter is contoured to cause flow separation of the incoming fluid, thereby dividing the stream to create a series of vortices that alternate with respect to the center line of the front section. As the vortices detach themselves from the front section, alternate areas of low pressure are created that shift from side-to-side, producing an oscillating thrust behind the front section and causing the deflectable rear section to swing periodically at a frequency proportional to the incoming fluid velocity. This swing is sensed by a strain gauge mounted on a beam from which the rear section is cantilevered.
The central opening in the rear section permits the flow of fluid therethrough and acts to smooth out turbulence behind the front section to a degree sufficient to create an orderly vortex tail straight down the center of the flow tube. This central passage significantly improves the accuracy and repeatability of the flowmeter.
In a vortex-shedding flowmeter of the Herzl patent type, the deflectable rear section is relatively heavy; and while this flowmeter has excellent hydraulic characteristics, it is quite sensitive to acceleration effects. Though it is possible to partially balance out these undesirable acceleration effects, some unbalance always remains.
Moreover, while the Herzl patent flowmeter design is generally effective in liquid flow rate measurement, it is not generally acceptable for metering gas flow. The reason for this limitation is that in liquid use, relatively large forces are generated by the vortices, whereas in gas flow measurement, the generated forces are smaller by many orders of magnitude, and the meter sensitivity is insufficient to respond effectively thereto, particularly if fading is encountered in the fluidic oscillations, as is sometimes the case.
In my copending application Ser. No. 013,557, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,117, of which the present application is a continuation-in-part, there is disclosed a vortex meter having a drag-actuated torsional sensor whose sensitivity is such as to render the meter accurately responsive to vortices generated either by liquid or gaseous streams. The fluid to be metered is conducted through a flow tube having a shedding body transversely mounted therein. Torsionally supported behind the shedding body and spaced therefrom by a gap is a drag-actuated sensor which includes a pair of parallel legs symmetrically disposed with respect to the fulcrum axis of the sensor, this axis being normal to the longitudinal axis of the flow tube.
In operation, as the incoming fluid stream is divided by and flows past the shedding body, it creates a stagnant zone in the gap, the zone being initially aligned with the tube axis. As vortices are successively detached from the shedding body and appear alternately on either side of the gap, the low pressure produced by each vortex acts to draw the stagnant zone in front of the adjacent leg of the sensor, the fluid flow then going around and past the other leg, thereby developing a torque about the fulcrum.
Since the vortices alternate, the resultant torques are developed alternately in the clockwise and counterclockwise direction, to cause the torsionally mounted sensor to oscillate at a frequency proportional to the flow rate of the fluid being metered. These oscillations are converted by a suitable transducer into a corresponding electrical signals.
The vortex meter disclosed in my copending application yields a single output signal whose frequency is proportional to the flow rate of the fluid being metered. In many instances, it is necessary to provide two independent output signals. Thus in a custody transfer system in which fluid produced by a utility or a fluid supply company is fed to a customer who pays the company on the basis of the mass or volume of fluid consumed, the customer is provided with a flowmeter which indicates the flow rate of the fluid being drawn, so that the customer has a running reading thereof. In this situation, it is necessary that the supply company be given a concurrent reading from the same meter, this reading determining the billing to the customer for the fluid actually consumed.
To this end, it is ncessary that the meter yield two independent output signals; one affording the customer a field reading, and the other, which is transmitted to the company, giving the company a supply station reading. These two concurrent readings make it possible to check and verify the operation of the flowmeter and to settle possible disputes as to billings.